Liquid and gas separating assembly

ABSTRACT

A liquid and gas separating assembly for an air compressor. The assembly includes an outer shell, an inner shell within the outer shell and a liquid-gas separating element within the inner shell. A gas laden with liquid particles, such as oil laden air from an air compressor, is admitted to the outer shell in which a large amount of the entrained liquid settles out of the gas into a pool of stored liquid partially submerging the inner shell in the lower portion of the outer shell. The gas passes into the inner shell through an inlet above the pool of liquid and then through the liquid-gas separating element. The separated gas and liquid are removed from the two shells through different outlets.

United States Patent [191 [111 3,722,187.

Potter et a1. 1 Mar. 27, 1973 [54] LIQUID AND GAS SEPARATING 2,642,9546/ 1953 Valley ..55/319 ASSEMBLY 2,885,027 5/ 1959 Green ..55/3263,085,381 4/1963 Sobeck ..55/323 [75] Inventors: Olin E. Potter,'Wilbraham; Biagio J. 3,225,554 12/ 1965 Alexander Tomasi, Hadley Fallsof 3,291,385 12/1966 et a1.

Mass 2,424,879 7/1947 Dach [73] Assignee: Worthington Corporation,Harrison, E i B d Nozick NJ. Attomey-Fishma.n and Van Kirk [22] Filed:Aug. 21, 1970 [57] ABSTRACT [211 App! NO" 65,771 A liquid and gasseparating assembly for an air com- Relat d US, A li ti D t pres'sor.The assembly includes an outer shell, an inner shell within the outershell and a liquid-gas separating [62] Division of Ser. No. 809,187,March 21, 1969, Pat. element within the inner m A gas laden with liquid3588288 particles, such as oil laden air from an air compressor,

is admitted to the outer shell in which alarge amount U.S- Cl. of theentrained ettles out of the gas into a pool 55/437, 184/6-16, 417/313 ofstored liquid partially submerging the inner shell in [51] Int. CL;..B0ld 50/00 the lower porfion of the outer shelL The gas passes FieldOf Search 323, 333, into the inner shell through an inlet above the poolof 55/430, 432, 337; 62/470-473; 210/416; liquid and then through theliquid-gas separating ele- 417/313; l84/6.l6 ment. The separated gas andliquid are removed from the two shells through different outlets.

[5 6] References Cited 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS1,463,990 8/1923 Wilson ..55/219 PATEt-flfnmzrmra I 3,722,187

SHEET 2 OF 2 OLIN E. POTTER BIAGIO J. TOMASI INVENTORS LIQUID AND GASSEPARATING ASSEMBLY CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Thisapplication is a division of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 809,187,filed Mar. 21, 1969 now US. Pat. No. 3,588,288 issuedJune 28,1971.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Such dual purpose cooling systems haveproven to be' relatively inefficient because of the several compromiseswhich must be made in the design of the system to provide the extracooling capacity to cool the compressor in addition to the vehicleengine.

SUMMARY OF THE INvENTIoN In accordance with the present invention theoil and compressed air from the discharge of a vehicle mountedcompressor are separated and stored in a single horizontally disposedtank. The separator assembly of the invention includes an outer shell,an inner shell withinthe outer shell and a liquid-gas separating elementwithiri the inner shell. A gas laden with liquid particles, such as oilladen air from an air compressor, is admitted to the outer shell and alarge amount of the entrained liquid will be settled out of the gas intoa pool .of stored liquid which partially submerges the inner shell. Thegas passes into the inner shell through an inlet disposed above the poolof liquid and thence through the liquid-gas separating filter element.The separated gas and liquid are removed from the two shells throughdifferent outlets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic in plan view ofa compressor system mounted on a truck frame.

FIG. 2is a side view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view in section of the oil cooling assembly of thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear end view of the oil cooling assembly ofFIG. 3.

An example of sucha compromise is shown in U.S.

Pat. No. 1,255,632 issued to L. Poccia on Feb. 5, 191-8 in which aseparate radiator member 41 for cooling compressor is mounted anddisposed behind radiator 13 for the vehicle engine 11. However, the fan14, disposed between'the two cores of the engine radiator must beoversized so that enough air will be drawn through radiator cores 13 tocool the engine without unduly raising the temperature of the coolingair, since the temperature of the'air after passing through engineradiator 13 must be low enough and the quantity of air great enough toaffect the required heat transfer to cool the compressor when the airsubsequently passes through auxiliary radiator 41.

Separate cooling systems for a vehicle mounted compressor include aseparate radiator, fan and means to drive the fan. This equipment isusually bulky andcomplex and therefore prone to failure. Additionally,the mounting requirements to obtain efficient performance of theradiator and the fan drive often make it necessary to sacrifice valuableworking space in the vehicle. A further complication has been presentedby the relatively unwieldly size and shape of the compressor oilairseparators of the prior art.

Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide an improvedair receiver-oil separator tank for a vehicle mounted compressor systemwhich receives an air oil mixture from the compressor discharge andseparates the oil from the compressed air and separately stores the oiland the compressed air.

I Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an airreceiver-oil separator tank of reduced volume suitable for a vehiclemounted compressor system.

Yet another object of the present invention is an air oil separating andstorage tank for a vehicle mounted compressor system in which the airoil separating element is disposed at least partially below the oillevel in the tank. 1

FIG. 5 is a side view in section of the receiverdemister tank assemblyof the present invention mounted in the compressor system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a rear end view partly in section of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of the flow path through thecooling unit of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. land 2 show in phantomlines a standard industrial truck generally indicated at 10 having acommonly available ladder type truck frame 12, a standard rear wheelassembly 14, the usual drivers compartment 15 and running boards 16 andfront wheel assembly 17. The engine of the truck 18 has a power take-offconnection 20 which drives a rotary compressor 22 by means of a commonlyknown automotive type drive shaft assembly consisting of a splined driveshaft 28 having an externally splined section 27 axially slidablyengaged with an internally splined hollow tubular section 29, the driveshaft 28 being connected at one end to the power take-off connection 20by universal joint 26, and at the other end connected to the rotor shaft32 of compressor 22 by a power receiving universal joint 30. Thecompressor 22 can be attached to the side rail 24 by any convenientmethod of attachment as for example by the use of a suitable bracket orfastening strap, not shown. The compressor rotor shaft 32 extendsthrough the compressor housing 34 and drives 54 driven by shaft 56extending from right angle gear box 44. A shroud member 52 is disposedabout the first and second cooling cores and the fan 54, with the fanrotating in a plane slightly below the bottom 53 of the shroud. Theshape of the shroud 52 and the positioning of the fan 54 with respect tothe shroud cause the fan, when operating, to draw air through the firstand second cooling cores and exhaust the air downwardly towards theground and radially outward. A shield 58 for the fan protects againstaccidental injury from the fan blades 54.

The compressor 22 has an inlet 64 and a discharge outlet 66 which isconnected by suitable conduit means, designated by dashed lines 68, tothe inlet 72 of an air receiver-oil separator tank 70. As shown in FIGS.and 6 the air receiver-oil separator tank 70 consists of an outerhousing 78 with the inlet 72 mounted in the upper portion thereof, acompressed air discharge out let 74 in the removable cover 86 and an oiloutlet 76 in the bottom of the outer housing. An oil filler neck (notshown) attaches to opening 80 at the end of the housing and an oil levelgauge 82-is located in the side of the housing to indicate the oil level110 in the tank. The majority of the oil in the compressor discharge isseparated from the compressed air upon entry through inlet 72 into theouter housing and falls to the bottom of the outer housing usuallyrising'to the level l10'as shown in FIG. 5. A closed oil tight chamber84 partially submerged in the oil within the outer housing is formedfrom a cylindrical member 85,, closed at-one end by a wall 87 and with aflange portion 89 at the other end, which flange is secured between theend cover 86 for the outer housing 78 and a bolting flange 88 on theouter housing 78 to which the end cover is fastened by a plurality ofbolts 90. An air-oil separating element 92 is mounted within oil tightchamber 84 by means of a mounting rod 94 extending from an anchoringmember 95.axially through the separating element and secured by mountingbolt 96 which presses against retaining member 98. The air-oilseparating element includes a first cylindrical section generallyindicated at 99 having perforated inner and outer walls 101 andl03respectively enclosing a filtering material 105. A second cylindricalsection generally indicated at 107 contains a plurality of discs offiltering material generally indicated at 109 disposed perpendicularlyto the axis of the air oil separating element 92.

An opening 100 in the top of oil tight chamber 84 allows compressed gasfrom the compressor discharge in outer housing 78 to enter the closedoil'tight chamber and then pass through the air-oil separator element 92wherein any oil remaining in the compressed gas will be separated out.The separated oil falls to the bottom section 102 of the oil tightchamber where it is drawn off by means of a siphon tube 104 whichextends from the bottom'section 102 of the oil tight chamber throughopening 100 and out an opening 106 in the outer housing 78. The oil thenpasses by means of conduit 108 to an area of lower pressureto be morefully explained below.

A conduit shown as a dotted line 112 connects oil outlet 76 of airreceiver-oil separator tank 70 to the inlet of a T-fitting 114 havingone outlet connected to the inlet 116 of the first cooling core 48 andthe second outlet connected by conduit 118 to a thermostatic valve 120whose function will be explained later. As seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 7 theoil entering inlet 116 of first cooling core 48 passes through the coreand exits from outlet 122 and then is carried by conduit 124 to theinlet 126 of the second cooling core 50. The oil passes through thecoils 128 of core 50, exits through outlet 130 and then is carried byconduit 132 to the second inlet 134 of thermostatic valve 120. The oilleaves thermostatic valve 120 passing from outlet 136 to conduit 138which carries the oil back to compressor housing 34 where the oil isused to cool the compressor and provide sealing for operation of thecompressor.

An alternate flow path for the oil in conduit 112 can be established bychanging the setting of thermostatic valve 120. If this valve is set toallow communication OPERATION The construction of the invention setforth herein provides for efficient operation of the entire compressorsystem. Power for the compressor 22 is obtained from the vehicle engine18 through the power take-off connection 20 on the engine andtransmitted through the splinedshaft 28 to the compressor rotor shaft.32. The rotary compressor shaft in turn provides power through splinedshaft 40 to'power the fan of the compressor cooler assembly. It shouldbe apparent therefor that the fan of the compressor cooler assemblyoperates only when the rotary compressor is in operation. The compressordischarges through outlet 66' and conduit 68 into the inlet 72 of theair oil receiver-oil separatortank 70. Oil from the tank passes throughconduit 112 to the T-fitting 114 which leads to either 7 the inlet 116of the first cooling core 48 or to the thermostatic valve 120.

If the coil is cold because the compressor has just started operationthe thermostatic valve will position itself to communicate inlet 135with outlet 136 thereby by-passing the cooling cores. As the compressorcontinues to operate the temperature of the oil rises and thethermostatic valve l20'will position itself to'block off inlet 13S andto communicate inlet 134 with outlet 136 thereby establishing a flo'wpath from the air receiver-oil separator tank 70 through the first andsecond cooling cores and then back to the compressor.

The oil cooling assembly is constructed to provide maximum efficiency.The first and second cooling cores are arranged in series to provide fora counter current flow through the cores thereby providing maximumcooling efficiencyby maintaining, as near as possible a constanttemperature difference between the temperature of the oil to be cooledin the cores and the cooling air passing through the coils. To bespecific, the

further cooled by the unheated air which is being drawn from theatmosphere through the second cooling core. It should be mentioned, ofcourse, that two cooling cores are not critical to the function of thecompressor system. A cooling system using one or three cooling coreswould also be operable.

The positioning of the fan 54 to rotate in the horizontal plane andoutside shroud 52 provides several advantages. Of primary importance isa considerable saving of space. The fan can now be mounted below theframe of the truck and does not take up any useful working space on thetruck frame. In order for. the horizontal fan to effectively draw airthrough the vertical firstand second cooling cores it is necessary tosurround the entire compressor cooler assembled'with shroud 52. Theshroud changes the direction of the air flow produced by the fan fromhorizontal as it passes the cooling cores to vertically downward as itapproaches the fan 54. Because the fanrotates in a plane below theshroud, it imparts a large radial velocity component to the air itexhausts, thereby preventing a strong exhaust downdraft. Such downdraftsare un desirable since they cause large amounts of dust to be raisedwhen the compressor system is working in certain environments.Additionally, by placing the cooling cores vertically between the rails24 of the truck frame 12, the cores are provided maximum protection fromdamage due to road'debris thrown up during over the road operation.Further, facing the cooling cores rearward prevents hot engine exhaustair frombeing drawn into the cooling cores by the fan, therebyeliminating the possible loss of cooling efficiency that would occur ifthe engine exhaust were drawn through the cooling cores.

Mention should be made of the advantages in construction of the airreceiver-oil separator tank 70.

Because the tank is of small diameter and mounted horizontally it can beeasilypositioned anywhere'under the truck frame, for example under therunning board 16 as shown in FIG. 1. However, because of the horizontalposition and its small diameter the oil level in the tank is higher thanthe lowest point of the air-oil separator element. For this reason, theair oil separating element is placed within the oil tight container 84within the tank and manner-10,0 to this oil ltight con- 7 mulated oilinto the oil separator filter element '92. Since the pressure in the airreceiver-oil separator tank 70 is approximately equal to the dischargepressure of the compressor any oil which has been separated by the oilseparator element 92 and has accumulated in the bottom section of theoil tight chamber 84 can be easily removedby means of the siphon tub'e104 which in turn is connected through conduit 108 to the inlet 64 0fthe compressor 22 where the oil is productively used.

What is claimed is: l. A liquid and gas separating assembly for acompressor comprising:

outer shell means having end and side walls which define a storagecontainer for the accumulation of liquid, said outer shell means beingprovided with a liquid-gas mixture inlet port for receiving anddirecting into said outer shell means the discharge from a compressor,said outer shell means further having liquid and gas discharge ports,said mixture tainer is at the top thereof to prevent any flow of accu- 7inlet port being disposed at a level displaced vertically above saidliquid discharge port and said gas discharge port being disposed at alevel vertically intermediate said mixture inlet and liquiddischarge-ports; inner shell means having end and side walls whichdefine a liquid impervious container, said inner shell means beingmounted within said outer shell means so as to be partially submerged inliquid accumulated in said outer shell means, said. inner shell meansbeing provided with a mixture inlet communicating with the interior ofsaid outer shell means at a vertical level above the level to which theliquid is permitted to accumulate, said inner shell means further beingprovided with a gas discharge port which communicates with and is sealedto said outer shell means gas discharge port;

liquid-gas filter separator means disposed within said inner shell meansbetween said inner shell means mixture inlet and gas discharge ports forseparating liquid from gas and passing said gas to saidgas dischargeports; and

conduit means for removing liquid separated by said separator means fromthe mixture delivered to said inner shell means, said conduit meansextending continuously from the vicinity of the vertically lowest regionof said inner shell means through a wall of said outer shell means andbeing connected to the compressor at the suction inlet thereof wherebycontinuous scavenging of liquid from the inner shell means will occurwhen the compressor is operating.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said outer shell means is comprised of a' generally cylindrical memberhaving one removable end wall;

the gas outlet port of said outer shell means is disposed in saidremovable end'wall; and

said inner shell means is mounted from said removable end wall.

3. The combination claimed in claim 2 wherein said outer shell meansliquid discharge port is disposed at the bottom.of said outer shellmeans, the combination further comprising: v

a liquid fillernozzle in said outer shell means, said liquid fillernozzle being disposed at a vertical level intermediate said outer shellmeans mixture inlet second filter means mounted in said inner shellmeans between said first filter means and said mixture inlet port, saidsecond filter means being oriented generally coaxially of said gasdischarge ports and transversely of said first filter means.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said outer shell means mixture inletport is disposed above the level of the liquid accumulated in said outershell and discharges parallelito the upper surface of said liquid 6. Thecombination claimed in claim 1 wherein said outer shell means liquiddischarge port is disposed at i the bottom of said outer shell means,the combination further comprising:

a liquid filler nozzle in said outer shell means, said liquid fillernozzle being disposed at a vertical level.

intermediate said outer shell means rnixtureinle and liquid dischargeports; and a liquid level sight gauge in said outer shell means. 7. Theapparatus of claim 6 wherein said-outer shell means mixture inlettportis disposed above the level of the liquid accumulated in saidouter shell and.

discharges parallel to the upper surface of said liquid and generallytangentially to said outer shell cylindrical member.

1. A liquid and gas separating assembly for a compressor comprising:outer shell means having end and side walls which define a storagecontainer for the accumulation of liquid, said outer shell means beingprovided with a liquid-gas mixture inlet port for receiving anddirecting into said outer shell means the discharge from a compressor,said outer shell means further having liquid and gas discharge ports,said mixture inlet port being disposed at a level displaced verticallyabove said liquid discharge port and said gas discharge port beingdisposed at a level vertically intermediate said mixture inlet andliquid discharge ports; inner shell means having end and side wallswhich define a liquid impervious container, said inner shell means beingmounted within said outer shell means so as to be partially submerged inliquid accumulated in said outer shell means, said inner shell meansbeing provided with a mixture inlet communicating with the interior ofsaid outer shell means at a vertical level above the level to which theliquid is permitted to accumulate, said inner shell means further beingprovided with a gas discharge port which communicates with and is sealedto said outer shell means gas discharge port; liquid-gas filterseparator means disposed within said inner shell means between saidinner shell means mixture inlet and gas discharge ports for separatingliquid from gas and passing said gas to said gas discharge ports; andconduit means for removing liquid separated by said separator means fromthe mixture delivered to said inner shell means, said conduit meansextending continuously from the vicinity of the vertically lowest regionof said inner shell means through a wall of said outer shell means andbeing connected to the compressor at the suction inlet thereof wherebycontinuous scavenging of liquid from the inner shell means will occurwhen the compressor is operating.
 2. The combination claimed in claim 1wherein: said outer shell means is comprised of a generally cylindricalmember having one removable end wall; the gas outlet port of said outershell means is disposed in said removable end wall; and said inner shellmeans is mounted from said removable end wall.
 3. The combinationclaimed in claim 2 wherein said outer shell means liquid discharge portis disposed at the bottom of said outer shell means, the combinationfurther comprising: a liquid filler nozzle in said outer shell means,said liquid filler nozzle being disposed at a vertical levelinterMediate said outer shell means mixture inlet and liquid dischargeports; and a liquid level sight gauge in said outer shell means.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3 wherein said separator means comprises: firstfilter means mounted in said inner shell means adjacent to said outershell means gas discharge port; and second filter means mounted in saidinner shell means between said first filter means and said mixture inletport, said second filter means being oriented generally coaxially ofsaid gas discharge ports and transversely of said first filter means. 5.The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said outer shell means mixture inletport is disposed above the level of the liquid accumulated in said outershell and discharges parallel to the upper surface of said liquid andgenerally tangentially to said outer shell cylindrical member.
 6. Thecombination claimed in claim 1 wherein said outer shell means liquiddischarge port is disposed at the bottom of said outer shell means, thecombination further comprising: a liquid filler nozzle in said outershell means, said liquid filler nozzle being disposed at a verticallevel intermediate said outer shell means mixture inlet and liquiddischarge ports; and a liquid level sight gauge in said outer shellmeans.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said outer shell meansmixture inlet port is disposed above the level of the liquid accumulatedin said outer shell and discharges parallel to the upper surface of saidliquid and generally tangentially to said outer shell cylindricalmember.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said separator meanscomprises: first filter means mounted in said inner shell means adjacentto said outer shell means gas discharge port; and second filter meansmounted in said inner shell means between said first filter means andsaid mixture inlet port.